Questioner
(paraphrased)
Someone asked Brandon why the general feel of Steelheart is so similar to Final Empire.
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
He said that was due to his love of heist stories. A group of thieves tasking themselves to do the impossible is just one of his favorite types of stories. Knowing this, Brandon did consciously try to make Steelheart a different flavor of heist from [The Final Empire].
Mysty
(paraphrased)
Is the Nightwatcher Cultivation or of Cultivation somehow?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
That is strongly hinted in the book.
Mysty
(paraphrased)
Are Shallan's "memories" a form of Surgebinding?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Good question! Shallan has something besides pure physiology aiding her when taking a memory.
Mysty
(paraphrased)
Will Shallan and Hoid meet and have a battle of wits?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Good question! I think you should read WoR and find out.
Mysty
(paraphrased)
Is Baxil's Mistress destroying statues of the Herald Shalash?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Yes. Actually in the prologue her statue is missing because Baxil's mistress came through.
Mysty
(paraphrased)
Is Baxil's mistress Shalash?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
I'm not going to answer that.
komekoro
Is what Navani said about Dalinar's wife accurate?
Brandon Sanderson
What specifically?
Kogiopsis
She says that she thought they could have been friends.
swamp-spirit
And that she's kind of the unassuming personality, the sweetness…
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, yes. That is correct.
lunarubato
Correct objectively or correct in her opinion?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, definitely correct in her opinion. But yes. And Navani is something of a slightly untrustworthy narrator, but I would go with, in that case, the fact that she's saying it and not being angry and– Her natural instinct would be to hate this woman; that's how Navani is, and the fact that she doesn't probably means that in this case she's being pretty truthful.
komekoro
Wayne mentions a nervous habit that gets cut off, can you tell us what that nervous habit is?
lunarubato
Please.
Brandon Sanderson
Alright, give me the full context of this please...
lunarubato
It was after the battle on the train, and Wax basically… Wax basically says "There's worse things than being genuine. Why, before blah blah blah, before Wayne would, Wayne used to basically get so nervous that he'd start…" And then Wayne cuts him off.
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, okay. Yeah, Wayne had a really, really, deep stutter when he was younger, and that, I believe, is what I was referencing.
lunarubato
Yay.
Kogiopsis
That's adorable.
Brandon Sanderson
So if you can imagine poor Wayne and his poor stutter.
lunarubato
Is Desolation a Shard?
Brandon Sanderson
Is Desolation a Shard? No, but good question.
lunarubato
Because in the [Words of Radiance Lift] Interlude, Darkness refers to it in a sort of first-person-ish sounding way.
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
lunarubato
Was Spook still alive when they figured out the Allomantic properties of cadmium and bendalloy and that sort of thing?
Brandon Sanderson
Yyyes.
lunarubato
Okay. Follow-up, did he learn how to use them and travel into the future?
Brandon Sanderson
*laughter* You will find more out about Spook's fate, how about that?
lunarubato
That'll work.
Brandon Sanderson
It has not been– There is more coming about Spook.
Kogiopsis
Are we going to see Native Americans in the Rithmatist series?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes you will. The Native Americans have mostly moved to South America, but there's a Native American main character in the second book.
Kogiopsis
Yes!
Brandon Sanderson
What happened is the– a lot of them got pushed into South America, where the Aztec Empire is alive and well and strong. And so their perspective on what's going on is very different from the perspective happening in Joel's school, so you will see a different perspective on things.
Kogiopsis
Excellent.
Brandon Sanderson
It was already dangerous though, what I'm doing, and I realize this, for those very reasons. Very sensitive issues. Like when I used the Mary Rowlandson account, which is kind of a controversial account as it is, I understood that I was potentially opening a can of worms.
swamp-spirit
But I mean, I really– I just want to say this, that I really appreciate as a reader that you go into diversity because I know it is a risk, and it means so much to readers to have you writing a different set of characters and people people can relate to.
Kogiopsis
Kind of along the same lines, I just want to confirm something. If someone from Earth saw an Alethi, what ethnicity would they assume they were?
Brandon Sanderson
It would-- The model I use are actually for the half-Hawaiian, half-Asians that are kind of common in Hawaii. That's the model I've used; I actually have one of their faces for Kaladin. So it would depend on what your perspective is, you might say-- some people might say Arab, but the model I'm using is kind of more Hawaiian/Asian mix is what you'd get. The only ones that would look Caucasian to you straight-up would probably be the Shin, though if you get someone who has Horneater blood-- The Horneaters might look-- they just-- they're gonna look like bizarre… redhead… things, but they might look Caucasian to you.
swamp-spirit
So would Shallan also be more towards that?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, Shallan has lighter skin. But she still has the epicanthic fold, and so she maybe would look to you like a Caucasian/Asian mix? With red hair? So… Anyway, she would look fairly Caucasian.
swamp-spirit
I will attempt to send you excited fanart.
Kogiopsis
I've been picturing the Alethi as Indian, myself.
Brandon Sanderson
Okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah, like East India? That’s a pretty good picture on them. That would work very well.
Kogiopsis
Are chasmfiends naturally aggressive?
Brandon Sanderson
Chasmfiends are… Depending on where you find them in their life cycle, can be naturally aggressive.
swamp-spirit
Is the Old Magic in Shinovar, and is this a result of something to do with Cultivation?
Brandon Sanderson
The Old Magic is at The Valley, which is not in Shinovar, which is… If you've got a book, I'll show you where it is.... Let's see where Issac's wonderful map is, the first big one… Right here. So the Valley's right there. So that's where you go in order to visit the Old Magic.
lunarubato
So alternatively, is Shinovar the way it is as a result of Cultivation's influence in any way?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find out answers to why Shinovar is the way it is.
swamp-spirit
Does it take longer for spheres to charge on the western side of the continent?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, because of the… No it doesn't, but that's an excellent question. The highstorms are a little weaker, but that's more of a… Of it's been blunted from the-- It's not an-- Like if the continent, the mountains weren't there, they wouldn’t be weaker.
Questioner
So if you burn duralumin at the same time as the metal that speeds up time, meaning stuff flows faster outside, would you basically warp into the future a long ways?
Brandon Sanderson
That's an excellent question.
lunarubato
I'm so sure! I'm so sure…
Brandon Sanderson
And I am not going to answer that question yet, because I don't... Because you are asking questions that they are going to be trying to answer in like five more books. So telling you right now would give spoilers for books way too far ahead in the future.
lunarubato
Do Wayne and Ranette have last names?
Brandon Sanderson
Wayne, no. Wayne doesn’t care about a last name. Ranette does, and I’m trying to remember what her last name is. It’s in my notes. If you ask, we can get it for you.